William Davis's Blog: Dr. Davis Infinite Health Blog, page 80

Could You Have a Collagen Deficiency?

The awful low-fat dietary advice of the last 40 years is responsible for several epidemics of health problems, including major contributions to overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes.

It also caused reduction in dietary intake of collagen that accelerates skin aging/wrinkles and joint deterioration/arthritis due to low collagen intake. Correcting this deficiency improves skin health and appearance while also reducing joint pain and rebuilding cartilage.

You can correct this situation by making some modest changes in your diet and adding either gelatin or collagen hydrolysates.

About Undoctored:

We are entering a new age in which the individual has astounding power over health–but don’t count on the doctor or healthcare system to tell you this.

We draw from the health information of the world, collaborate, share experiences, collect data, and show how to apply new health tools to achieve levels of health that you may have thought unattainable. We do all this at a time when conventional healthcare costs have become crippling.

The result: personal health that is SUPERIOR to that obtained through conventional means.

Based on the book Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor

Available in all major bookstores and Amazon.

The post Could You Have a Collagen Deficiency? appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Chocolate-Mint Ice Cream

Store-bought no-added-sugar ice cream is a landmine of sorbitol, maltitol, and other unhealthy sweeteners that not only act much like sugar but also provoke loose stools.

Here’s a way to make your own thick, rich ice cream without problem sweeteners and without having to endure gas and diarrhea.

If you have a dairy sensitivity in some form or you are among the people whose weight loss is stalled or prevented by dairy products (due to the insulin-provoking action of the whey fraction of protein in dairy products), replace the whipping cream with canned coconut milk. The additional custard step using egg yolks ensures a creamy texture even with coconut milk.

Creating the egg yolk custard is key, and here I use a simplified method directly on the stove. Because we avoid using emulsifying agents (due to their disruptive effects on bowel flora), there is one downside: This ice cream is best consumed right away, as it does not freeze well and becomes icy. You can indeed store it in the freezer, but you will have to wait for it to partially defrost first.

This basic recipe can be altered in an unlimited number of ways. For example, you can leave out the cocoa and replace it with 1 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries, 1 cup wild blueberries, 4 ounces dark chocolate chunks with or without peppermint extract, 1 cup bing cherries, 1 cup pistachios, etc.

Makes 4 servings

4 egg yolks (preferably large or jumbo eggs, or 5 small to medium)
1 1⁄2 cups heavy whipping cream, preferably organic, or 1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk
3 tablespoons Virtue Sweetener or other natural sweetener equivalent to 3⁄4 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄2 teaspoon peppermint extract

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the eggs yolks. With an electric or hand mixer, beat the yolks while on the heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until creamy and smooth. Keep the heat low enough so that the yolks do not scramble or coagulate but are warm to the touch. Add the cream or coconut milk, sweetener, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, and peppermint extract and blend until mixed thoroughly. Pour the entire mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s directions. (My device required 25 minutes to convert to a thick custard texture.)

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Nima testing for cross-contamination: “Gluten-free” is not always gluten-free

When a restaurant labels a dish “gluten-free,” can you count on that being true?

Sometimes you can. If they have a segregated area of the kitchen with separate cooking utensils, separate preparation and cooking surfaces, as well as ingredients that are gluten-free, then you can have pretty good confidence that the dish you order is safe. But if there is no such segregation you can never be entirely certain even if the food is not breaded, does not contain breadcrumbs, or is not served on wheat or rye bread. For some people, this can be a real problem.

So I brought my Nima device along with me to a local pub/restaurant to test a dish that I suspected might contain gluten via cross-contamination.

Cross-contamination, of course, is the contamination of food because of utensil, cooking vessel, cooking surface, or even air flow contacted gluten-containing foods (and, of course, other grain components beyond gluten, such as wheat germ agglutinin, have their own set of effects, though not revealed with gluten testing). If the griddle, for example, that was used to make conventional pancakes was used to fry your eggs or burger, your food could be contaminated.

In this case, I ordered chicken wings that were listed as “GF,” or gluten-free. (It’s tough to tell in the photo, but they were not breaded.) Because they were deep-fried (and thereby not the healthiest due to the high-temperatures of deep-frying, but that’s another issue), I wanted to know whether the chicken wings were fried in oil/vessel that had been used to fry breaded chicken or other foods and thereby cross-contaminated.

Sure enough, the wings tested “low gluten,” meaning more than 20 parts per million (ppm) were detected. (The device reads “High gluten” if 100 ppm were detected.)

Because I am not exceptionally gluten intolerant, I ate 5 wings without any reaction. But there are plenty of people who would not get away with this and suffer effects such as joint pain lasting several days, diarrhea and abdominal discomfort for days to weeks, or reactivation of an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

While I got away with it, it was reassuring to know that the Nima device called it, helpful to those who really don’t have this kind of leeway.

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Emulsifiers: Like detergent to your intestines

If you have been following the Undoctored and Wheat Belly concepts, you are cultivating healthy bowel flora, efforts that include “seeding” your intestines with a high-potency, multi-species probiotic and fermented foods, and nourishing bowel flora with prebiotic fibers. But there are other issues to consider. Today, I discuss the emerging wisdom on emulsifying agents and why we should avoid them to regain healthy bowel flora and overall health.

The capacity for a compound to emulsify a solution varies from minimal to dramatic. Even some natural compounds in whole, unprocessed foods can exert modest emulsifying effects, such as acacia (acacia seeds), pectin (apples, peaches), and lecithin (egg yolks), and mustard. The most powerful emulsification effects occur with synthetic or semi-synthetic emulsifying agents, such as polysorbate-80, carboxymethylcellulose, and methylcellulose, sodium stearoyl lactylate, and carrageenan. In one study, polysorbate-80 increased intestinal permeability 59-fold.

The human intestinal tract is covered by a protective mucous layer made of mucopolysaccharides that keeps undesirable organisms and other factors away from the intestinal lining itself. The mucous barrier is continually being regenerated, but is susceptible to emulsification, like adding soap or detergent to oil, resulting in its breakup. Emerging data suggest that synthetic emulsifiers, polysorbate-80 and methylcellulose, disrupt the mucous lining, allowing microorganisms to penetrate and exert changes via bowel flora that increase blood insulin, blood sugar, contribute to pre-diabetes, and increase inflammation, in addition to altering the composition of bowel flora present. This is believed to be an important part of the process operating in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, for example, as well as diabetes and weight gain. An unintended consequence of the low-fat message was an increase in foods that contained synthetic emulsifying agents, such as low-fat yogurts, adding further to the blunders of the low-fat era.

In the Undoctored and Wheat Belly lifestyle, we try to minimize our exposure to emulsifying agents. Total avoidance is, however, not practical, as mentioned above there are natural emulsifiers in otherwise healthy foods, such as eggs (lecithin) and mustard. Therefore, try to minimize your exposure to added or synthetic emulsifiers, such as carboxymethyl cellulose, polysorbate-80, sodium stearoyl lactylate, and carrageenan.

We opt for whole, single-ingredient foods as often as possible, thereby not containing synthetic emulsifiers. However, our reliance on almond, coconut, and some other processed non-dairy milks means we are being exposed to some of the natural, semi-synthetic, and even synthetic emulsifiers. We should therefore avoid brands containing synthetic emulsifiers. Alternatively, you can prepare almond or coconut milk yourself and avoid them altogether.

The Undoctored and Wheat Belly effort to cultivate bowel flora by including 20 grams of prebiotic fibers per day also increases mucopolysaccharide production (via short chain fatty acids), reducing the impact of emulsifiers.

Stay tuned for more on this emerging and exciting new insight, as I predict that better understanding of the intestinal mucous layer is going to yield even greater capacity to heal intestinal tracts damaged by wheat/grains, antibiotics, chemical exposures, and prescription drugs.

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Red Flags for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

Dysbiosis, or disrupted bowel flora, is exceptionally common and will often corrects over time on the Undoctored Wild, Naked, and Unwashed program. But some people have dysbiosis of a worse sort called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in which dysbiotic microorganisms have ascended up the 20+ feet of small intestinal up into the stomach. This can account for persistent health issues even after all Undoctored efforts have been followed.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is much more common than we thought and can account for persistent abnormalities or partial responses to the initial Undoctored efforts to regain health.

There are a number of health conditions that, if you have one of them, should serve as a red flag for the presence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and additional steps should be taken to document, then correct, this situation.

These additional strategies are discussed on the Undoctored Inner Circle website: innercircle.undoctored.com, while the basic starting discussion begins in the Undoctored book.

About Undoctored:

We are entering a new age in which the individual has astounding power over health–but don’t count on the doctor or healthcare system to tell you this.

We draw from the health information of the world, collaborate, share experiences, collect data, and show how to apply new health tools to achieve levels of health that you may have thought unattainable. We do all this at a time when conventional healthcare costs have become crippling.

The result: personal health that is SUPERIOR to that obtained through conventional means.

The book is Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor

Available at all major bookstores and Amazon.

The post Red Flags for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

The 3 Gluten-Free Mistakes

People often mistake the Wheat Belly lifestyle for a gluten-free lifestyle–but that can be a big mistake that leads to weight GAIN, diabetes, inflammation, even risk for heart disease, cancer, and dementia.

Getting your Wheat Belly lifestyle right, on the other hand, can lead you to huge health and weight loss success.

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I will be LIVE on the Undoctored Inner Circle Virtual Meetup Saturday, Aug 5th

I shall be LIVE again on the Undoctored Inner Circle Virtual Meetup on Saturday August 5th at 1 pm Eastern/12 pm Central/11 am Mountain/10 pm Pacific.

Let’s discuss the Undoctored program with a specific focus on bowel flora, as this is the most common tripping point on the program. The Virtual Meetup function allows us to meet as a group to discuss issues or questions via live video. In addition to our open discussion, I would like to discuss how the Inner Circle site is going to help fund and build our Undoctored movement, taking us closer to a world in which healthcare is (almost) free.

NOTE: A portion of the Meetup may be recorded for promotional uses. If you do NOT want to have your voice or video shared, please mouse over the left lower corner of your Meetup screen to turn off audio and video input (avatars for a microphone and video camera). I will announce when I am recording and when it is turned off.

(The Undoctored Inner Circle is a paid membership site that includes features such as the live Virtual Meetup, webinars, the Undoctored Health Network video collection, Health Tool Product Reviews, and a Discussion Forum.)

To join, go to the Undoctored Inner Circle and sign in.

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Why Am I No Longer Hungry?

A common experience in the Wheat Belly lifestyle (after you have endured the 5-7 days of grain detoxification and withdrawal) is that hunger drops dramatically. You will find yourself saying things like “I had breakfast this morning so I don’t think I want to eat lunch.” Or “I had lunch at noon, so I’ve lost any appetite for dinner.”

The incessant, always hungry feeling disappears and is replaced by an occasional soft desire for something to eat. The effect can be so powerful that many people forget to eat meals.

The result: effortless weight loss without counting calories and freedom from cravings, impulse eating, food obsessions.

To get started on the Wheat Belly program, get the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox book at all major bookstores and Amazon.

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Blueberry, Carrot, and Greens Prebiotic Shake

Another delicious recipe from my new Undoctored book.

If you are into getting more greens and other nutritious foods through a shake or smoothie, here is one way to combine them with prebiotic fibers. The spinach is interchangeable with your choice of greens, such as kale or collard greens— great sources of vitamin K1.

Makes 1

1 peeled green banana or peeled raw white potato, coarsely chopped
1 cucumber, coarsely sliced
1 cup fresh spinach
1 carrot, coarsely sliced
1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
 cup water
Sweetener equivalent to 1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon inulin or FOS powder (optional)

In a blender, combine the banana or potato, cucumber, spinach, carrot, blueberries, water, sweetener, and inulin or FOS powder (if using). Blend until the banana or potato has been liquefied and mixed well. If the shake is too thick, add water as needed and blend to mix.

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Vitamin K and Osteoporosis— What’s the connection?

Before you are prescribed bisphosphonates: Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva, Reclast or Zometa, maybe you should consider the Undoctored strategy.

The grain-free diet, vitamin D, and magnesium protocols in the core Undoctored program provide the bulk of bone health benefits through a variety of mechanisms, including increased intestinal calcium absorption, reduced urinary calcium loss, and reduced levels of the parathyroid hormone that weakens bones.

You should also avoid calcium supplements, as the effects of vitamin D and the increased intestinal calcium absorption that develops after eliminating calcium-binding phytates from grains make them unnecessary, even dangerous. And there are two more important strategies to consider…

It is so important that you get enough vitamin K2 and K1. The necessity of this less-well-known form of vitamin K, to be distinguished from the K1 found in green vegetables, has only been recognized recently. K1 participates in blood coagulation, while K2 modulates calcium metabolism, with deficiency contributing to loss of bone calcium leading to osteoporosis, hip and other fractures, and abnormal deposition of calcium in arteries, part of the atherosclerotic process leading to heart attacks. Deficiency may also contribute to cancer risk, especially prostate cancer.

Vitamin K2 is obtained from consumption of meat and organs, egg yolks, butter (from grass-fed animals only), and foods that undergo some forms of bacterial fermentation, especially cheeses and natto (fermented soybeans).

A small quantity is obtained via bacterial conversion from K1 to K2 by some species of human bowel flora to K2 in the human intestine. I therefore suspect that the apparent need/benefit from K2 supplementation in rebuilding bone density (and reducing cardiovascular risk) may be yet another expression of modern dysbiosis. Because K2 supplementation is benign, it is a reasonable strategy to consider stacking the odds in favor of rebuilding bone or preventing osteopenia/osteoporosis, especially since the precise way to encourage bacterial conversion of K1 to K2 has not been worked out.

Vitamin K2 has been demonstrated to increase bone density and reduce fractures. (In Japan, K2 is prescribed as a drug to treat osteoporosis.) The long-acting MK-7 form, rather than the short-acting MK-4 form, is the most effective at a dose of 180 to 200 micrograms per day, such as contained in the Life Extension Super K preparation.

Getting 4 to 5 servings every day of green vegetables that provide plenty of vitamin K1 as well as other health benefits is also helpful. Vitamin K1 supplementation, as opposed to getting it from green vegetables, does not appear to hold the same bone density–increasing potential, and consuming plenty of green vegetables seems to be a more effective means of obtaining bone health, as well as other health benefits.

Note that people taking the blood thinner warfarin (Coumadin) will need to work with their healthcare providers, as both K1 and K2 supplementation will counteract the effect of the drug, an effect that can pose dangers if supplementation is not done properly (e.g., low doses of K vitamins, either K1 or K2, taken in consistent amounts every day to avoid excessive fluctuations of the INR value). Another option would be to convert to a blood thinner that does not interact with the K vitamins.

Get up and move. Do axial-impact or weight-bearing exercises. Exercise that involves impact to the spine (“axial” impact), like jumping rope, jogging, stair climbing, hopping in place, and dancing, but not swimming or biking (though healthy for other reasons), has dramatic effects on increasing bone density. Jumping in place 10 to 20 times, or taking a 20 minute walk, everyday achieves measurable increases in bone density.

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